As if air journey didn’t have sufficient pitfalls by itself, there’s additionally the irritating and actual risk that an airline may lose your checked baggage. In line with a 2024 examine by SITA, an IT firm that gives bag-tracking programs to airways, 36.1 million suitcases worldwide have been mishandled in 2023, which means 36.1 million luggage have been misplaced, delayed, broken, or stolen. That’s about 6.9 luggage per each thousand passengers.
Mishandled charges have decreased over the latest years: In 2022, it was 7.6 luggage per each 1,000 passengers and in 2007, the primary yr SITA began monitoring, it was 46.9. Airways have additionally applied numerous programs to attenuate such occurrences, together with digital bag tags and programming inside their apps to permit vacationers to trace their baggage in actual time. Nonetheless, there are proactive steps you may take as an air traveler to scale back your probabilities of delayed or misplaced baggage.
Learn on for what you are able to do as a traveler to assist hold monitor of your luggage—and to assist airways hold monitor of them, too.
1. Use a baggage tag. Each time.
Even when you plan to take your bag as a carry-on, use a baggage tag together with your contact data on it. You by no means know whenever you’re going to be pressured to gate test. For that contact data, make sure to embrace your identify, cellphone quantity, and electronic mail tackle, as these are probably the quickest methods to succeed in you. Keep away from placing your house tackle, because it may pose a security concern. And make it possible for tag is securely hooked up.
2. Put your contact data in the bag, too.
Place your cellphone quantity and tackle contained in the bag, in a extremely seen place. The way you do it’s as much as you: sticker; word card; a further tag. That manner, an airline can simply contact you. You may additionally contemplate placing your journey itinerary within the baggage—it may assist airline employees route it to you quicker.
3. Guide a nonstop flight at any time when doable.
There are fewer alternatives for foul-ups and mishandling between flights when there are fewer connections and layovers. That is very true on worldwide flights the place luggage have to clear customs.
4. Take previous stickers off your baggage.
Airways put barcode stickers on checked baggage in order that they’ll scan them and hold monitor of luggage. That is useful when you lose a suitcase, however it may work towards you if the airline employees can’t inform which sticker is probably the most present one. In line with SITA, 4 p.c of all mishandled luggage are resulting from errors in tagging and stickering. So take away previous bag tag stickers out of your baggage earlier than you test it.
5. Add an Apple AirTag to every bag you wish to monitor.
The FAA permits vacationers to place AirTags of their luggage, however word that not each model of tracker will meet the security necessities. “Baggage monitoring gadgets powered by lithium metallic cells which have 0.3 grams or much less of lithium can be utilized on checked baggage,” the FAA mentioned in a press release shared with Afar. “Apple AirTags meet this threshold; different baggage monitoring gadgets might not.” Whenever you file your lacking bag report with the airline, you may share its present whereabouts, which ought to assist the airline discover it extra rapidly. As of November 2024, vacationers can now share a safe hyperlink for an AirTag’s location with sure airways, to assist the provider discover your baggage extra rapidly and effectively.
6. Have an in depth description of your bag prepared.
In case your baggage is misplaced, be ready to present the airline the precise producer, measurement, coloration, and any distinguishing options of your bag in order that they have a good suggestion of what to search for. Saying “black” and “sufficiently big to should be checked” isn’t actually useful. Additionally, hold an itemized listing of what’s in your suitcase—you may present it to the airline and it might assist individuals determine it quicker, particularly in case your bag accommodates a novel merchandise. It’s additionally a good suggestion to take an image of the contents of your bag whenever you pack. It will turn out to be useful when you do have to file a misplaced baggage declare; then the airline can’t dispute what the contents of the bag have been.
7. Arrive early in your flight and test in your baggage properly upfront.
“Arriving early supplies a much less tense journey expertise, and it additionally minimizes the probabilities of baggage mishandling resulting from a last-minute rush,” says Matthew Robb, senior vp of Technical Operations at Denver Worldwide Airport. As a result of arriving early offers airline employees ample time to correctly tag and cargo your baggage onto the right flight, it could cut back the probabilities of a bag being mishandled.
8. Safe (or take away) unfastened elements.
Robb added that “any unfastened straps ought to be tightened or ideally faraway from backpacks and duffel luggage to make sure they don’t get snagged or broken on their journey to and from the airplane.” Undone buckles in your baggage, as an example, can get caught in equipment en path to the aircraft, inflicting the flight to be delayed.
9. Be certain that your bag is well identifiable.
Attempt a brilliant ribbon or a baggage tag with a particular sample or print, or use baggage in one of many nice colours that our favourite trendy baggage manufacturers promote. It’ll additionally make it much less probably that somebody will mistake your bag for their very own. (Unsure what bag to get? We’ve obtained a information to buying baggage.)
10. Be persistent (however well mannered!) with follow-ups.
In case your bag is misplaced, employees must seek for it manually. Getting somebody to care may go a good distance.
11. Carry-on solely, when you can.
Whenever you test a bag, you’re on the mercy of airline transfers, rushed baggage handlers, and the occasional conveyor belt meltdown. However with a carry-on, except you’re pressured to gate test, you recognize precisely the place your belongings are always. Carrying-on solely is very good recommendation when you’re touring exterior of the US. In line with SITA, solely 2.4 out of each 1,000 luggage are mishandled domestically, whereas 6.9 of each 1,000 in 2023 have been mishandled internationally, with Europe being the worst offender when it comes to mishandling at a charge of 10.6 of each 1,000 luggage.
12. Ship your baggage as an alternative of checking it.
In case you have many luggage to test, or cumbersome gadgets like golf golf equipment, you might choose to skip the concern and price of checking these in and use a transport firm. There are lots of corporations that deal with baggage transport, they usually normally supply such advantages as assured arrival, door-to-door pickup and supply, insurance coverage, and 24-hour cellphone service in order that you’ll at all times have somebody to name when you’re apprehensive about your bag.
This text was initially printed on December 11, 2023, and was up to date on March 5, 2025.